I cannot comment on Dedisham.

Sodington: I guess the story has gained in the telling.  Blount had a forge,
but it was a finery forge making bars of iron, not horseshoes: you do not
want a hammer of 0.25 tons to shoe a horse.  Malcolm Atkin, Civil War in
Worcestershire (Sutton, Stroud 1995), 28 says that Blount had his house at
Sodington burnt down because he refused to make arms for Parliament: that is
credible.  Finally, do not trust oral traditions that have been handed down
for 200-300 years: they may have a basis, but may equally be fanciful
stories.

Escape of Charles I after the Battle of Worcester: Charles quickly reached
the area north of Wolverhampton (Boscobel, Bentley, etc.) and spent some
time there in hiding with the help of local Catholics).  This would take him
north (not northwest).  His precise route is uncertain, but it was almost
certainly a direct route.  Presumably, he crossed Worcester Bridge (the old
bridge being on the northern edge of the city) in escaping after the battle,
and then followed the main road north (now A449).  There would be several
possibilities north of Hartlebury: he may have wished to avoid the town of
Kidderminster, for example.  Crossing back over the Severn at Bewdley Bridge
or Redstone Ferry (near Stourport) would be far too risky.  Anyway,
Sodington itself would hardly be involved, since it had been burnt down.
Had he gone northwest, he would not have ended off near Wolverhampton.  I
would suggest you look at Richard Ollard, The Escape of Charles II (1966).
His map shows a route through Kidderminster and Stourbridge, but going
through both is unlikely, given the main road network.

I would suggest that this is not an area in which links by marriage or
distant cousinage are relevant.  Tardebigge is much too far east to be
relevant.  The Windsor's became Earls of Plymouth and I do not think they
were Catholic.  Lord Windsor was certainly Royalist, but probably Anglican.
His home at Hewell Grange (now a prison) is near Tardebigge.

Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
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-----Original Message-----
From: From: Local-History list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Richard Symonds
Sent: 11 April 2009 11:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Dedisham Manor, Slinfold, sacking in 1643


Was Dedisham Manor, Slinfold, really sacked by Wallers troops in the Civil
War
as part of Cromwell's hunt for Prince Charles?

The sacking is a question which has puzzled local historians ever since the
Revd. Dallaway, Rector of Slinfold, wrote a Sussex History in the early
years of
the 19th century, in which he stated that there is a tradition that the
manor
house was ransacked by Sir William Waller's Parliamentary troops in 1643,
and
afterwards left to decay.

I have always maintained that Dedisham Manor was not sacked by Waller's
troops but that it was Dedisham Forge which was attacked.

The Dedisham story appears on my blog:
http://wasfuman-dedishamwaller.blogspot.com

However, I have to be unbiased in my thinking and attempt to put together a
cohesive counter argument supporting the local tradition that the event did
indeed occur.

I have just uncovered another twist to the sacking story which just might -
and this is a long-shot - explain why Dedisham manor was sacked (if indeed
it
was sacked), and it all revolves around the Blounts political persuasions,
possibly a loss of temper, and the escape of prince Charles.

Apparently, We have the Blounts of Sodington living in the old manor at
Sodington. In 1642 (?) Sodington Manor was burned following, so the story
goes, the refusal of Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baronet, to allow parliamentary
soldiers to have their horses shod at his forge in Cleobury Mortimer.

This has now got me thinking.

This was the year before the date of the Dedisham sacking (1643), and about
the time when the Dowager Dame Mary Lewknor turned the property over to
the Onslows, - she was only living there because of her one-fourth share in
the property since 1629 when Richard Blount jnr. died leaving Dedisham
equally to his four daughter co-heiresses, it having been in the possession
of
the Blounts since the time of Edward VI’s gift (possibly a sop for his
father’s
dalliance with Bessie Blount).

Now, if I can establish a direct link between the 2 manors - particularly
since
they were both Blount properties (marriage/close family/etc), then we might
just possibly have the makings of a much larger sordid affair where
Parliamentary forces all over the country were given carte-blanche to search
& ransack Blount properties - a sort of Blount "open-season" if you wish.

Poor old Sir Walter - If this line of enquiry turns out correct, then he
must
really have got up someone's nose.

The story of Sodington Manor is constantly told and retold in the local
history
coffee table books - BUT an acquaintance, a genealogist who had grown up in
Cleobury Mortimer remembers being told at school that the parliamentarians
were LOOKING for someone - which could tie in with the Dedisham story. So,
who could the parliamentarians have possibly been looking for in BOTH
manors?  We know they caught Sir Walter and imprisoned him, so it would
have to have been someone really important to them.

Now, it is generally understood that Charles II escaped from the Battle of
Worcester through the Roman Catholic  "underground".

1. He travelled north-west from Worcester through Blount country (in
fairness
he could not have escaped in any other direction, the south and east were
blocked by the parliamentarians with parliament holding every bridge and
ford
across the Teme and the Severn).

2. I understand that the party was led by Stanley, Earl of Derby.
Apparently,
Bridget Brome/Blount/Stanley had married a William Stanley; there is a
Tardebigge William Stanley (immediate neighbours of the Windsors, of whom
Bridget (and Eleanor Lewkenor) were cousins. The Tardebigge Stanleys were
said to be related to the earls of Derby, but Peter Stanley, author of the
House of Stanley, states that there is no proof. John Blount, cousin of
Captain
James Blount, in his will (1680 ish) refers to his brother-in-law, who also
looks
like one of the Tardebigge Stanleys, he also calls James II's future
Archbishop
of Canterbury and Bishop of London, the Gifford brothers, his "cousins".

3. King Charles was then handed over to the Gifford family, who John Blount
refers to as his cousins.

4. According to the rather nice booklets which aim to trace Charles II's
escape, he travelled south, hoping to make for Bristol, found the way too
dangerous and then rode east - according to the booklets, through West
Dean.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

5. Then Charles leaves England under the safe protection of Colonel Gunter,
a
descendant of Sir Richard Lewkenor's half brother, Jasper Gunter. Didn't
Col.Gunter's son marry a Lewkenor descendant? Memory bells are ringing.

6. "Boscobel", the story of Charles' escape, said to have been told by
Charles
himself to the author: "Blount", believed to have been Thomas Blount of
Orelton - but even this is not known for certain - they were very good at
covering their tracks, these Blounts.

Prof.Michael Questier in his book on catholic gentry, particularly Sussex RC
gentry, says that, unfortunately, very little is known about the Windsor
family.
Another source refers to the "militant catholicism" of the Windsor family,
originated Lady Windsor, formerly Cowdray (?) - another Worcestershire-
Sussex link – and of course Cowdray was one of the Mansions attacked during
Waller's 1643 campaign.

Antonia Fraser in her book on Cromwell states that F.Richard Blount, head of
the English Jesuits, stayed at large for 30 years. She does not state which
30
years. And Richard was a popular Mapledurham/Dedisham christian name.

Then of course we come to Richard Lewknor, a Royalist, being in possession
of
Lord Lumley's house at Stansted in the Parish of Stoughton (also attacked by
Waller). Sir Richard, the Justice, had been a close friend of Lord Lumley's.
The
justice died in 1616. His son, the second Richard Lewkenor of West Dean,
died
in 1602, while his grandson, the third Richard Lewkenor of West Dean, died
in
1635. So we must be talking here about Richard Lewkenor of Preston, in
Benderton, a close cousin, the son of Sir Christopher Lewknor. Sir
Christopher,
was the brother of Richard Lewknor of West Dean (d 1602), and was recorder
of Chichester in 1634. He married Mary, dau of John May of Rawmere, sister
of
Christopher May of Greenwick.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Richard Symonds